Very limited 2 LP release of the trio of Thomas Borgmann (reeds), Wilber Morris (bass) and Reggie Nicholson (drums) performing live at the Tampere Jazz Festival in 1999, plus one track from St. Ingbert in 1998.
**CD edition** 1974 recordings at WKCR in NYC from the quintet of Charles Brackeen (flute & sax), Ahmed Abdullah (trumpet), William Parker (bass), Roger Blank (drums) and Tony Waters (percussion), beautifully recorded and essential free improvisation. "The dominant influences at this time were John Coltrane and Albert Ayler (both of whom had passed away relatively recently); and Ornette Coleman (who had not yet gone Harmolodic). Although some musicians had sought to push the Fire Music of late C…
"Deep & sophisticated spiritual jazz, following Mr. Gale's Ghetto Music tradition... including the marvellous African Sunshine, a 17 minute piece which goes on and on, and on and on... and you'll never get tired of the on; right ON ! Inner Peace music." EP/Sagittarius A-Star. Eddie Gale - flugelhorn & muted trumpet, James Garrison - tenor sax, Emily Haozous - alto sax, Leonard Thompson - piano, Yvette Zee - violin, Colette Zee - violin, Richard Duke - double bass, Allen Santos - double ba…
**One of the most iconic ambient albums of the last decade, Kevin Drumm 'Imperial Distortion' had an extremely limited vinyl pressing a couple of years ago which some argued never quite captured the full depth and frequency range of the original material due to the way in which it was mastered. This brand new edition has long been planned by the label and has now been painstakingly remastered by Matt Colton, unveiling a filigree spectrum of microtonal flux and layers of atmosphere that were simp…
Philip Corner's Battutosso / Bone Pulse (And Other Nature Musics) features recordings from 1989-97 of the US composer experimenting with bones, "the 100 most beautiful cows' bells", "breath, flute, and rubbing rock", and "Geoff Hendricks' xylophone sculpture". Compelling stuff, as always with Corner's work. Mastered by Silvia Kastel (Control Unit etc) and released on the Italy-based Ricerca Sonora imprint in an edition of 300 copies
Peter Jefferies's extraordinary debut solo album, The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World, first saw life as a cassette via the Xpressway label of Port Chalmers, New Zealand, in 1990. As a result of some international underground acclaim in fanzines and mailorder catalogs -- for both the album and a striking 7-inch, 'The Fate of the Human Carbine,' released around the same time -- it soon appeared on LP and CD as well, through the Ajax label of Chicago. Within a couple of years it slipped…
First commercial release of John Cage's Variations V, the 1966 NDR Hamburg television production with David Tudor, Gordon Mumma and the Cunningham Dance Company, with the Paris 1966 audio, dancer interviews and a 12-page book.
For their third effort, originally released by Azteco Records in 1985, T.A.C. had grown to a six headed band, featuring a very peculiar sound on the verge of haunting minimalist structures and contemporary classical, scattered with electronic incursions of polluted radio frequencies and background buzzes, which give the music an eerie, dismantled feeling. Their autonomous and unorthodox path interbreeds post-industrial with a kaleidoscope of other inputs making use of an instrument array that se…
Sicilian saxophonist, flutist, composer and arranger Nino Rapicavoli is one of the unsung heroes in the world of Italian soundtracks of the 1970s. A musician with a solid background in jazz as well as a long-time member of Italy's state-owned RAI TV orchestra, Rapicavoli has only a handful of library albums to his name, but each is of the highest quality. This Divagazioni ('Ramblings') is probably the best of the lot, an album that mixes jazz, easy listening and a pinch of prog with that …
Commercially available for the first time, this 1970 library album by Alessandro Alessandroni is the only existing full-length recording of his extraordinary vocal group, I Cantori Moderni, an eight-to-sixteen person choir featuring Edda Dell'Orso, Giulia De Mutiis (Alessandroni's first wife), Gianna Spagnuolo, Augusto Giardino, and Franco Cosacchi, and highlighting, through twelve original themes by Alessandroni, the complex vocal harmonies of the legendary group that lent their voices to the a…
Beautiful material from this legendary Bay Area soul jazz combo! The Sons & Daughters of Lite have an incredibly spiritual sound – one that sounds sort of like the best groups on the Strata East label, with touches of Roy Ayers or James Mason-esque soulfulness, but with a little less polish. Many of the cuts have sweet female vocals in the lead – with backing that includes vibe, electric piano, tenor, alto, and percussion by Babatunde. The record's a great one if you dig spiritual jazz funk – al…
A beautiful little record – and one that definitely earns the "suite" distinction in the title – given the thoughtful longform approach of the set! The album's got a more composed feel than other spiritual jazz sessions of the time – not in a stiff way, but in a style that shows that leader Donald Alexander Strachan really has a strong vision in his music – not just in the compositions he spins forth on the record, but also in the way he directs the rich energy of the ensemble! The lineup featur…
Ethnic Expressions by Roy Brooks & the Artistic Truth is one of two recordings drum master Roy Brooks cut for the tiny Afrocentric New York imprint Im-Hotep. Released in 1973, it has been one of the most sought-after "Holy Grail" recordings on the collector's market, with copies selling at auction for over $1,200. The reason is not merely its rarity, but the stellar quality of its music and the focus of its vision reinventing the unity of African-American self-determination through music. Record…
Incredible work from the amazing Dorothy Ashby – a brilliant set of funky and spiritual tunes, set to full backings from Chicago soul arranger Richard Evans! This album is easily one of Ashby's greatest, and it's dedicated to the writings of Omar Khayyam – one of the forces guiding Dorothy's more spiritual sound at the end of the 60s, clearly opened up in a way that's not unlike the direction of Alice Coltrane's work, but a lot more focused and a lot more funky! Ashby not only plays her…
This is Tomorrow's Achievements, an exclusive Public Information foray into the Canadian Library institution, Parry Music. With access granted by founder John Parry, Public Information have selected twenty-five of their favorite electronic tracks, an early autumn heat-wave of perfect melody. Parry Music was founded in 1974 in Toronto by John Parry and Chris Stone. John was formerly a manager of revered UK library Chappell Music and Chris was a Canadian music consultant; both brought some familia…
Matsuli Music is proud is announce the re-issue of African Songbird, the masterpiece from South Africa's greatest jazz singer, Sathima Bea Benjamin. Originally released in 1976, African Songbird was a debut long overdue. The splendid vinyl reissue of African Songbird opens with a cavernous, spacious, enormous sound, Bea Benjamin’s voice is introduced by Dollar Brand’s plangent, lingering electric keyboards before the ensemble joins in like rolling thunder. The vibrant plucked bass (provided b…
Absolutely sterling, amazingly priced primer on the history of 20th century avant-garde and electronics, compiled and presented by notorious rock 'n roll, punk and electronic music scribe, Kris Needs. While there have been notable collections of early electronic and experimental music doing the rounds - Sub Rosa's crucial Anthologies spring to mind - we can think of few as comprehensive, and particularly curated as 'Giant Steps & Flashpoints In 20th-Century Experimental & Electronic Sound'. Taki…
Epic 12 x LP Box Set (weighing 5kg!) of all the Vinyl on Demand releases, edition for VOD members with two additional 7"s and a CD as bonus, issued in this latest batch, housed inside a silver embossed rigid boxset** Massive 12 LP boxset compiling Vinyl-On-Demand's latest batch of ten albums. It's a rarely paralleled insight to the world of '80s Minimal, Synth and Wave musics siphoned from cassette-only releases and issued on vinyl for the first time. Recommended! Includes: Kevin Lazar 'Mu…
Unseen Worlds follow a hugely appreciated reissue of Laurie Spiegel's 'The Expanding World' with this delightful slice of the 1979-81 avant-garde, rescued from private-press cassette. Amazing songs meditating on American daytime TV set to luscious Buchla synth arrangements. RIYL Robert Ashley, Julia Holter or Pinkcourtesyphone "Daytime Viewing (1979-80) is an extended narrative song, based on a casual analysis of daytime television drama and the audience phenomena such programming addresses. The…
Another precious find from Andy Votel’s impeccable Dead-Cert imprint, Kat Epple & Bob Stohl made music for Carl Sagan, composed sound pieces for Planetariums and scored nature documentaries in the early 80’s. Most of their recordings were only ever released on private edition tape, with this selection hand-picked by Andy Votel, remastered and cut by Matt Colton and available on vinyl for the first time ever. Operating in Florida from 1978 until Bob’s untimely passing in 1989 at the age of…
Established in 1978 by Truus de Groot in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, she tinkered with toy and electronic instruments in her flat - amidst the explosion of Punk Rock. Even though Truus was very active in that genre and “New Wave” as well, the more experimental side gradually took over and the concept of Plus Instruments was born. Plus Instruments released their first e.p. single in 1979 on Dutch label Plurex:
Playing odd electronic instruments, Bass and vocals, most of their performances were im…
Gerald O'Connell and Mark Harvey began recording as Mystery Plane in 1980, although they had worked together since 1978 in two other more conventional five-piece bands ( The End and 3D5). The very early stuff ( for instance Death Sentence contained on the bonus 7" for members) was recorded in Gerald's living room on a two-track Akai reel-to-reel with a primitive internal overdub facility. For the most part Mark wrote and sang the songs, while Gerald created the backing tracks. In 1981 they were …
Paul Nagle is an electronic artist and synthesist from UK who started to produce wonderful fascinating electronic sounds since the late 70's when his parents moved to a remote farmhouse, triggering creative outbursts in many fields - music, painting and writing to name but three. His music which combines elements of electronica, ambient, trance, minimalsynth and new age would have perfectly fit to a label like Martin Reed's Mirage who also released early works of Colin Potter, Ian Boddy, Mark S…
Emily Faryna is a Canadian artist and singer known so far only by real fans of Minimal/Synth-related Wave-music and cassette-culture collectors. Like most singers, she started doing small gigs, slowly making a name for herself. By 1984, she was working under the MoDaMu Records label out of British Columbia in Canada. Her debut album, I’ve Got a Steel Bar in My Head, was released that year (MoDaMu10). The Track Doomed to Fail was released on the Underground Vancouver 1984 Compilation the same yea…
Olaf Schirm alias Symboter is a berlin-born electronic artist and musician. In the late 70s he lived in Munich. At that time he got Inspired by early Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk and other international computer music avantgarde artists. He used commercial synthesizers imported from Japan and his gigantic custom-built Symboter Modular System.
As technician of Gershon Kingsley ("Popcorn", "I feel love" sequence) he was able to use his Moog Modular System in many of his own songs andf…
A classic, highly sought-after and influencial experimental electronic and acoustic tape from 1981, finally released as a deluxe vinyl LP in extended form with an additional LP to round-up this perfect release - Solo-Works and three more 5ive Ximes of Dust instrumentals by the two genius synth-and-cassette-culture-protagonists and musicians of Dada Computer; Mark Philips, who also ran the Tape-Label MAP-Tapes and Robert Lawrence who ran one of the first Cassette-culture Tape-Labels called Quick …
A document recovered from the margins. Experimental Products - Oxide 1982-94 is exactly what its title announces: a body of archived oxide, demos and live recordings spanning twelve years of activity by two of minimal synth's most stubbornly self-reliant figures.
Mark Wilde and Michael Gross formed Experimental Products in 1982 in northern Delaware, operating heavily out of Philadelphia's fringe club circuit. Self-described as a garage band that swapped guitars for synthesizers and a drum machin…
Peter Becker is one half of famous Eyeless in Gaza. In 1979/80 Peter Becker and Martyn Bates formed their own label called „Ambivalent Scale Recordings“ in order to release their own music as well as projects of friends like Kevin Harrison or Bron Area. Peter released two Solo-Tapes called "They brought the Statosphere" (ASR04) and By Train to the Coast (ASR10, which also found release on Ian Dobson's Flowmotion Label)
Peters recordings from those two Solo-Tapes contain a wide variety from athmo…
Edition of 160 copies. Roman Opalka (1931-2011) was probably the most insisting conceptual artist of the last century. In 1965, in his studio in Warsaw, Opalka began painting numbers from one to infinity. Starting in the top left-hand corner of the canvas and finishing in the bottom right-hand corner, the tiny numbers were painted in horizontal rows. Each new canvas, which the artist called a 'detail', took up counting where the last left off. In 1968 Opalka introduced to the process a tape reco…
RRRrestocked!! This is a recording of a major work that has been lost to history for fifty years, as well as one of the most substantial and significant pieces of the minimalist repertoire. Written in 1959 by Dennis Johnson, November was purportedly six hours long as originally conceived. La Monte Young, who knew Johnson while at UCLA in the late 50s, credited the piece for inspiring The Well-Tuned Piano. November was the magnum opus of a heavily abbreviated career, but one that left a large…
2022 small repress. Terry Riley (piano, organ, soprano saxophone) & John Cale (bass, harpsichord, piano, guitar, viola, organ) collaborated on this one-off album, released in 1970. At this time, rock music was a serious movement, removed from the joke it once was, quite unaware of the joke it would eventually become, and things like this sometimes happened. Cale, classically trained on the viola, must have been pretty pleased to get a shot to record with the '60s king of minimalist pulse, Terry …
Absolutely essential release of one of the most prominent personalities in the music world. Michael Adamis was recognised as a pioneering composer who created a contemporary musical genre upon the Greek tradition. He has managed to create an original electroacoustic soundscape, leaving a clear aesthetic mark among contemporary and Byzantine music. These works offer a remarkable example of his pioneering and diverse creative course, revealing a search for new means of expression. Tape, voice, dis…
In a fair and reasonable world, Roland Haynes would have compelled more attention than he did when his jazz-funk record 2nd Wave appeared on Black Jazz in the mid-1970s. Not to say the keyboardist was totally neglected back then, but he and other plugged-in pianists of his stylistic inclination (such as label-mate Doug Carn, Hampton Hawes, Don Grolnick, Larry Willis, and Gordon Beck) existed in the deep shadow cast by jazzman-turned-jazz-funk powerhouse Herbie Hancock, whose records with the H…
2008 release. You might not think that there would be much information available about a performance artist whose entire catalog of work lasts about 40 minutes, and who vanished at sea. This release will dispel that notion. Here is Always Somewhere Else is not only a moving tribute of artist Bas Jan Ader, but a celebration of the eye, that which notices the miraculous in the small, mundane details.Ader, in that sense, was one of the first micro-historians. He was obsessed with gravity, with…
Greek Rhapsody -- Instrumental Music from Greece 1905-1956 is a 2CD collection featuring 42 tracks meticulously remastered from 78rpm recordings of Greek instrumentals (1905 to 1956). Many tracks are rare and never previously reissued on CD or vinyl; some are taken from the only known copies, while previously reissued tracks are here offered in far superior sound quality. This compilation offers, for the first time, a unique panorama of the instruments and styles of the Greek music of the…
Aweome unearth lost vintage electronic music from Eastern Europe!!! "Strut, in conjunction with Ambassadors Reception and Future Nuggets, presents the first ever retrospective of fabled band Rodion G.A., one of Romania's best kept musical secrets of the last 30 years. As a band, Rodion G.A. were a unique phenomenon in their homeland at the time, operating in their own universe during a prolific period of recording from 1978 to 1984 at a time of significant political repression under the Ce…
Whereas the earlier black jazz album Shawn-Neeq had its share of riff-based funk, Calvin Keys' second outing Proceed with Caution! (1974) sticks close to straight-ahead jazz verities with the 30-something guitarist in the studio with seven similarly young, on-the-rise musicians including Charles Owens (saxophones, flute), Oscar Brashear (trumpet), Al Hall Jr. (trombone), Kirk Lightsey (electric piano), Henry Franklin (bass), and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (drums). Keys can really play the guitar, e…
Jazz-man Henry Franklin, widely respected for his service to the finest jazz players, brought that ineffable quality called soulfulness into play when he made his first record for producer George Porter at Black Jazz, The Skipper. Not unexpectedly, his follow-up affair titled The Skipper at Home teems with the same jaunty uplift. In sync with Franklin's musical spirit on the second recording are returnees Charles Owens on saxophone, Oscar Brashear on trumpet and Kenny Climax on guitar along wi…
An undisputed 70s spiritual jazz classic – and arguably the best album that Doug Carn ever cut for the Black Jazz label! The set is a masterpiece of spiritual jazz – with Carn on keyboards setting up the groove, and wife Jean singing some incredible vocals. Doug Carn's third album for Black Jazz, Revelation (1973), is as compulsively listenable as his previous outings. The keyboardist-composer-arranger-bandleader is on top of his game -- Jean Carn returns to handle the vocal parts, the hir…
2022 restock, last copies. Recorded on April 18, 2010 at Clemente Velez Center, New York City. German free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Peter Brötzmann: alto and tenor sax, B-flat clarinet, tarogato. American jazz drummer/percussionist, Hamid Drake: drums and percussion.
Multi-reedist Peter Brotzmann and drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake met in the studio in New York City, April 2010, to record this double album of fiercely intense and beautiful improvised music. Consisting of 6 improvisati…